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Components of project workbench

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Components of project workbench

The project workbench displays project information in two distinct areas. The top pane
displays the project visualization, and the bottom pane displays phase details in a list view or
visual task board. There is also a header above the workbench that includes several buttons and
controls.

The project workbench scales to fit the available browser height. If necessary, scroll bars
are added to display the workbench details.

Header

The header is a gray bar that runs across the top of the project workbench.

The first time a user accesses the project workbench from the Project menu, the header
displays the following components:

After a project is opened, the header displays additional components, depending on the type of
project selected.

Back (): takes the user to the Project form to view the project details.

Select Project: displays the current project name. Click the down
arrow to select a new project.

Project Detail (): displays the information from the Project form in a pop-up window.

Add phase icon (): adds a phase or milestone to the timeline.

Apply Template: opens a dialog box for setting a start date and
adding a template to the project. This button appears for new or blank projects that have no
phases.

Manage Stories: under the Options icon () displays the story backlog for this project. This button appears when Project Portfolio Suite is active.

List: under the Options icon () displays additional details in list view about the currently selected phase. This
button appears if a project has one or more phases.

VTB: under the Options icon () displays additional details in the Visual Task Board about the currently selected
phase. This button appears if a project has one or more phases.

Create New Project: under the down-arrow icon () opens the Project form for creating a new project.

Go to Planning Console: under the down-arrow icon () opens the planning
console.

Timeline

The top pane of the project workbench displays the project
timeline. The timeline uses monthly or quarterly markers to represent time. If the duration
of a project is less than 500 days, these markers represent months and if the duration is
greater than 500 days, these markers represent quarters.

The project timeline
displays the following project information:

Project name: the name assigned to the project. Point to the project name to see a
message about the project date calculation method used for this project.

Percentage complete: the percentage of the project that has been completed. This
percentage is based on the duration and the percentage complete of the individual
phases.

Project start and end dates: the dates specified in the Planned start
date and Planned end date fields for this project.

Project phases: colored bars that represent the different phases of the project.

Milestones: colored and dynamic circles on the timeline that represent important dates
in the project life cycle.

Phases
in timeline

A project phase is represented in the timeline by a horizontal bar. The
bar is connected to the timeline by a thin vertical line that indicates the phase start
date. The name of the phase appears just above the horizontal bar. Project phases are
stacked in the timeline by start date, phase, and the earliest start date appearing at the
top. If there are phases than can fit on the timeline, a scroll bar appears on the right
side.

The color of the horizontal bar changes incrementally to reflect the completion
percentage of the phase. The percentage completion is calculated based on the phase type:

Waterfall: includes project tasks. The completion percentage is
based on the number of project tasks that have been completed.

Agile: includes stories. The completion percentage is based on
the number of story points that have been completed.

Test: includes test cases. The completion percentage is based
on the number of test cases that have been completed.

The available phases depend on how Project Management is installed. When Project Management is installed as a
standalone app, the project manager can only create and edit the Waterfall phase type. When
Project Management is installed as
part of the Project Portfolio Suite
(PPS), the project manager can create and edit all phase types (Waterfall, Agile, and Test).

When you point to a phase, the cursor changes from an arrow to a hand and a pop-up
window displays the phase name and the start and end dates. Clicking a phase in the timeline
displays the corresponding task information in the bottom pane of the project workbench.

Note:

You can add multiple agile phases and multiple test phases to a
project.

You can add only one test phase for a test plan in a project.

An agile phase cannot overlap another agile phase for an assignment group
in a project.

While creating a story, if a project has only one phase, then the story is
tagged to the phase.

Milestones in timeline

Milestones indicate important dates in a project and are
represented along the timeline by colored circles. Three colors are available for
milestones: green, yellow, and red. The project manager determines how the colors are used.

Pointing to a milestone changes the cursor from an arrow to a hand and displays a
pop-up window with the short description and planned start date.

Click a milestone to
update the milestone information. You can also drag a milestone along the timeline to change
the date. Milestones can be dragged to any point on the timeline within the boundaries of
the project start and end dates.

Detail view

The bottom pane of the project workbench displays detailed
information for the phase currently selected in the timeline. The information displayed varies
by the phase type selected:

Waterfall: displays the project tasks associated with the phase.

Agile: displays the stories assigned to the phase.

Test: displays the test cases for the testing phase.

Information in the bottom pane can be displayed in list view or in a visual task board.
The List and VTB buttons in the Project
Workbench header control how this information is displayed.